ARTWORK

From a portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints from original Meatyard negatives (1959-71),
Printed April 1974

Edition of 130

Credit stamp, verso

7 x 7 inches, image
15 x 12 inches, mount

Contact gallery for price.

“In the 1950s few photographers, particularly men, chose their models from their own families. Meatyard, however, found inspiration in his three offspring. This was perhaps due to his interest in Ben Shahn’s postwar paintings of Italian children playing among the ruins of war; the dolls, puppets, and children in Rainer Maria Rilke’s poetry; and the dwarves, elves, and hobbits of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasies. But he did not emphasize their innocence. Instead, he cultivated their uninhibited nature, unpredictable gestures, and natural acting abilities. The weathered rural architecture provides the kind of abstract elements—the horizontal slats of wood against the strong verticals of the barn-like structure—that Meatyard preferred as context for his figures.”